Professional Documents
Culture Documents
This guide will walk you through each stage of a full IA. Use it each
time you complete an IA, especially during your final IA. It is
suggested you use similar subheadings so examiners can easily
locate information and award marks where you deserve them.
Personal Engagement
This will be the opening paragraph of your report and should be written in the 1st person.
Include
I have
included
I have
checked
prior to
submission
Research Question
This can also be written in the first person if appropriate.
Include
I have
included
I have
checked
prior to
submission
Hypothesis
I have
included
I have
checked
prior to
submission
Example of a hypothesis
For this investigation, I expect to find that as duration of exercise increases, so too will
heart rate and ventilation rate. I predict that both of these values will increase in a linear
fashion and then plateau at a certain level of exercise. I think thi
this
s because the heart and
lungs cant continue to get faster and faster with no limit.
I predict the graph for both variables will look similar to this.
Background information
This should not be written in the first person. IB are not expecting you to spend hours on
background reading. Your IA should be a slight extension of ideas covered in class and
therefore your textbook should/can form the majority of your information for this section.
Remember to save any details of sources so you can reference appropriately using the APA
system. Dont forget word can organise this information for you, just use the References tab.
Include
I have
included
I have
checked
prior to
submission
Partial pressures of oxygen at the lungs are relatively high upon inspiration, whereas in
the blood at the lungs the partial pressure of oxygen is low due to the presence of
carbon dioxide within the haemoglobin (Clegg et al., 2007). As a result, oxygen
displaces carbon dioxide from the haemoglobin, which can then be transported to the
tissues. Carbon dioxide diffuses across the basement membrane, into the alveoli and is
expelled from the lungs upon expiration. Ventilation is required for the inhalation of
oxygen and the exhalation of carbon dioxide in this process.
OR
Categoric
measurements
Interval
(Continuous)
T- test
STDEV or
standard error
T- test requires at least 10 readings for each set of data. E.g is there a difference between
the mass of M and Ms and Smarties? You must measure the mass of at least 10 M and
Ms and 10 Smarties.
Chi squared test requires as many collected results as possible to compare observed
results and expected.
STDEV requires a range of at least 5 intervals. Each interval should be equal in value.
Each interval should be repeated at least 5 times.
Variables
State your independent and dependent variable. Ensure you include ranges and units. Record
your control variables in a table stating the variable, describing how it will be controlled and why
it needs to be controlled.
Include
I have
included
I have
checked
prior to
submission
Example of Variables
The Independent Variable is the amount of exercise, as it is as a result of a change in
this variable that leads to a change in my dependant variables, the ventilation rate and
heart rate. As the duration of exercise increases, the heart rate and ventilation rate are
required to respond similarly in order for gas exchange to occur at the required rate. The
amount of exercise will be varied by climbing a different number of stairs each time.
Participants will run up 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and finally 6 flights of stairs. Each flight of stairs will
be 10 steps high.
The Dependent Variables will therefore be the ventilation rate and heart rate, as
according to my hypothesis, both rates are affected by a change in my independent
variable exercise. As the independent variable either increases/decreases, ventilation
rate and heart rate is required to respond similarly due to a need for the exchange of
these gases between the bloodstream and the tissues/alveoli to occur at a greater rate.
In order to record these two measurements the following procedures will be used (more
details given in method).
Measuring heart rate- Using a stethoscope and counting how many beats are heard in 1
minute.
Measuring ventilation rate- With the individual lying down, ventilation rate will be
measured by counting the number of times the chest rises in a minute.
Control Variables
Variable to control
Excursion
experiment
Rest period
prior
to
Why it needs
controlled
to
be
There is a measurable
difference between the
heart rate of an individual
fully rested, standing and
after
doing
physical
exertion. For the sake of
this experiment the resting
heart rate will be measure
Preliminary experiment
You may need to carry out preliminary experiments to ascertain certain measurements. For
example if you are investigating osmosis and you plan to dissolve different masses of salt into
100ml of water, it might be necessary to find out the saturation point to determine the different
masses of salt youll use. If preliminary experiments are relevant, make sure you record what
you did and learnt from them.
Include
I have
included
I have
checked
prior to
submission
or on the skin. Hazcards can be obtained from the technicians which list care and action
instructions for all chemicals we use in school.
Ethical considerations must be taken into account if living organisms are being used. You need
to state how you are taking into account the welfare of the organism.
Include
I have
included
I have
checked
prior to
submission
List and describe fully all safety consideration that are relevant.
(Do not say- we will take care when... Describe how care will
be taken e.g ventilated room, using tongs, wearing goggles,
incinerating waste.)
Describe what action you will take if an accident happens e.g
use sand to soak up spilt liquids, use an eye wash to rinse the
eye for a minimum of 10 minutes.
List/describe fully all ethical considerations that are relevant.
List/describe fully any environmental issues that are relevant.
Include reference to these, where appropriate, in the
methodology. (See method.)
Apparatus
This is simply a list of all the equipment you will use. State sizes, for example 250ml beaker and
the precision of the instruments e.g +/- 0.5 ml
Include
I have
included
I have
checked
prior to
submission
Example of equipment
One digital stopwatch (to nearest millisecond) (+/- 0.5ms)
Six flights of stairs (x60 steps in total)
Method
Your method may be divided into 2 or 3 sections if appropriate. For example- Before the
experiment, During the experiment, Collecting the data. Aim to begin each sentence with a verb,
for example: Pour, Clamp, Measure, Hold, Weigh. In most cases a diagram is the best way to
show the setup of equipment. This can be in the form an image found online (cited) or a photo
of your work. Ensure that your method includes reference to your control variables and safety
and ethical considerations.
Include
I have
included
I have
checked
prior to
submission
Example of a method
1. Participant 1 to rest in a seated position for 10 minutes.
2. After 10 minutes measure their resting heart rate and ventilation rate.
3. Before starting the exercise participants are reminded to use the lift to come downstairs to the
original floor.
4. Participant 1 to run as fast as they can up 1 flight of steps (10 stairs in total).
5. Immediately after participant 1 is to lie on the floor. The two individuals recording data will
measure both heart rate and ventilation rate over the course of 1 minute (uncertainty +/-1
beat/breathe)
Things to do
Follow your method exactly making sure you stick to the control
variables you have described.
As you carry out your practical check your method makes
sense and is in the correct order.
As you become aware of difficulties and things that could be
improved, record them, this will be helpful later when you write
your evaluation.
Record any observations you make that are not quantitative.
These might help you to analyse and conclude data later on.
Ensure you are collecting enough data to carry out the
appropriate statistical analysis.
Methodology is highly appropriate because it takes into
consideration all, or nearly all, significant factors which affect
the relevance, reliability and sufficiency of the data collection.
I have
included
I have
checked
prior to
submission
Data
All raw data must be included in your report. You must then process this data suitably, including
some statistical analysis and a suitable graph.
Things to do
I have
included
I have
checked
prior to
submission
Analysis
This section requires you to make general comments about the trends and patterns in your
data. Essentially you are using your graph to describe any relationships that are suggested by
the shape of your graph. Use specific data points to support the statements you are making.
Include
I have
included
I have
checked
prior to
submission
Example of analysis
The overall trend suggests that as exercise increases both heart rate and ventilation rate
increases (Figure 1). The independent and dependent variables show a positive
correlation. There also appears to be a correlation between the two sets of data. Both
appear to have a similar upward trend in terms of rate of change. This can be seen
overall by similar gradients of both lines on the graph. There are data points that do not
fit the overall upward trend. Amount of exercise 2 and 3 had the same affect, on
average, on ventilation rate. And amount of exercise 5 had a lesser effect on ventilation
rate that amount of exercise 4. A similar inconsistency can be seen with heart rate.
Amount of exercise 6 has a lesser effect on heart rate than amount of exercise 5. The
rate of change also differs depending on amount of exercise. Ignoring point 6, there is a
greater rate of change in heart rate the more exercise is carried out. The gradient of the
graph between points 3 and 5 is much steeper than it is between points 1 and 3. This is
not so true of ventilation rate. if points 3 and 5 were to be ignored then each section of
the graph appears to have a similar gradient suggesting the rate of change of ventilation
rate is fairly linear. As suggested previously in the analysis, I believe the following
highlighted data points to be anomalies.
Conclusion
This section requires you to use statistical analysis to prove or disprove your hypothesis if you
can. This section is different to the analysis section. Here you are trying to ascertain if you can
categorically say if there is a relationship between your IV and DV. You will look more closely at
specific data points and your error bars and make more direct comments rather than the more
general comments made in the analysis.
Include
I have
included
I have
checked
prior to
submission
Evaluation
In this section you will discuss the limitations of your experiment and make suggestions for
improvements. You will also suggest further development of your investigation. You must make
reference to reliability, precision, validity and accuracy as separate entities and with respect to
different parts of the methodology.
Include
I have
included
I have
checked
prior to
submission
Example of an evaluation
Limitation
Using
stethoscope
Why it is a limitation
a There is too much room for human error Use a digital heart rate
and it considerable affected the precision monitor
of results. There was a lot of background
noise from the participants which made it
difficult to hear the heartbeats. As the
frequency of heartbeats increases the
error seems to increase as shown by the
error bars on the graph.
Participants
stimulant intake
Measuring
ventilation
Using
different Different subjects were used as a means
participants
to repeat data. The reason we did this
was to save time. If we had used the
same individual to complete all test it
would have taken many hours to complete
the study. This reduced reliability of our
data.
Number of repeats
Using number of
flights of stairs
climbed as the
independent
variable
Fatigue
Range
independent
variable
Communication
Marks are awarded for your report being easy to follow and its relevance.
Include
I have
included
I have
checked
prior to
submission